The WWE has always been known as a sports entertainment product. There have been changes in roster, management, writers, and overall product. The WWE was once known as the WWF and had many years of success under this name. That was until a known organization took it upon themselves to change the wrestling promotion known as WWF.
Changes in WWE upon results of lawsuit
After decades of operating as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) the promotion was forced to change everything as a result of a lawsuit that was brought to court by the WWF, otherwise known as the World Wildlife Fund. The result was an accumulation of charges against, at the time WWF, because of the three lettered trademark. Everything was to change. Merchandise, logo, action figures, and video games. This was brought on by the judge’s decision to side with the World Wildlife Fund, who had not raised an eyebrow before despite the WWF having operated since the early 1980s. The change would come on May 6, 2002, as the entire WWE would go through changes.
Many changes occurred and they occurred almost immediately. The WWE became the birthplace of Ruthless Aggression and the product became more aggressive and adult-like. Shortly after this change, marquee name and face of the most successful era in sports entertainment history, Stone Cold Steve Austin, left the company in 2003 and The Rock – the natural successor to Austin – followed in 2004. This would leave a tremendous hole in the roster that needed to be fixed immediately. The roster was noticeably different due to new signings and former mid-carders were getting main events spots, while remaining stars of the Attitude Era (Triple H, Kurt Angle, The Undertaker etc) remained in the main event scene. Raw and SmackDown began to have their brand specific pay-per-views until that idea was scrapped following WrestleMania 23. The likes of John Cena and Brock Lesnar made their WWE debuts and eventually became stars during this transitional phase.
After years of operating this way, the WWE had to change with the times as fans appeared to grow separate from the product. Blood became banned, no more adult segments, the WWE Network became a platform for all to see old footage from different promotions, production value had increased due to technology and revenue, and the WWE was able to grow and have big PPV level events outside the United States.
Although there have been changes here and there, the WWE is gearing up for the possibility of many changes due to Vince McMahon selling the company. As fans sit and wait to see what will happen, it is certain that this promotion will not be the same by the end of the year.
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